Today's Labour News

This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.

The Sunday Independent reports that the future is uncertain for Bosasa workers as the embattled company weighs its liquidation options after allegations of bribery and tender corruption surfaced at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Former COO Angelo Agrizzi and other executives laid bare the alleged trail of money and gifts that made their way to government officials’ pockets in exchange for lucrative contracts. Then, Absa and FNB withdrew their banking services to the company, making doing business virtually impossible. Bosasa (now known as African Global Operations) then filed for voluntary liquidation and, as a result, put 4,500 jobs on the line. According to some workers, they were placed on suspension as part of the liquidation process. The aggrieved workers said they were told verbally two weeks ago to vacate the offices. “These suspensions came as a surprise. We were told that this would be a suspension without pay and we assume that the reason is because of the current liquidation process,” said an employee. Another employee said the suspensions were done without the HR department’s knowledge. Meanwhile, SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) spokesperson Zanele Sabela said they had had a meeting with Bosasa and liquidators last week. “Bosasa indicated that they want to withdraw (the liquidation application) because they used the wrong section (of the law) and they re-applied using the section that will allow them to appoint their own liquidator rather than using the one appointed by court. And we have a problem because why do they want to use their own liquidator?” asked Sabela.